More Taxes May Be on the Way

It might come as a shock to Oklahomans still smarting from paying income taxes this week, but the Obama administration doesn't think you're being taxed enough. White House economic adviser Paul Volcker said last week that the U.S. should consider raising taxes, including imposing a new, European-style "value added tax" (VAT) -- a national sales tax on virtually any goods and services Americans consume. Nancy Pelosi agrees, stating last October that a VAT should be "on the table."

The proposed value added tax is just one more way American taxpayers may be forced to pick up the tab for the spending spree instituted by congressional liberals. In the first five months of this fiscal year, Washington has spent $655 billion more than it has collected in revenue. The enactment of the $1.2 trillion health care takeover has made a dire budget outlook even more critical, prompting Democrats to look for ever more creative ways to wring money out of American workers.

Americans already devote the equivalent of over three months' worth of wages to taxes. The National Taxpayers Union coined the term Tax Freedom Day to recognize the date on which workers have earned enough to meet their yearly federal, state and local tax obligations. In Oklahoma this year, Tax Freedom Day was April 6. That means that from January 1 until last week, Oklahomans have been working solely to support the government; only now do you get to keep your earnings for yourself and your family. That's slightly better than the national average date of April 9, but it's still a far cry from 1910, when a 5 percent tax rate meant Tax Freedom Day occurred on January 19.

This slow but persistent slide toward a European-style tax burden and socialist economy should be extremely troubling to all Americans. Not only does it put our nation on a path toward national bankruptcy, which will result in our children and grandchildren being the first generation of Americans to have a lower standard of living than previous generations, but it will fundamentally alter the essence of who we are as a people.

America has historically been a great nation because of the entrepreneurship, generosity, and courage of its citizens. But the path that we are on right now, described by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey as "starving the horse and fattening the jockey," will not lead to a national economic renaissance. It will lead to economic, social and cultural disaster.

The challenges we face as a nation will not be solved by higher taxes and a bigger, more intrusive federal government. Our national well-being will be best served by a limited government that maximizes our freedom and opportunity, and restrains itself from our individual pocketbooks.

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